Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on AMPH. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $71.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.00.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

AMPH opened at $50.84 on Friday. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $36.56 and a 1-year high of $65.92. The stock has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 2.63.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.10. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 29.79% and a net margin of 23.36%. The business had revenue of $182.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $171.29 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO William J. Peters sold 10,282 shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.23, for a total value of $454,772.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 94,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,162,175.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Richard K. Prins sold 17,101 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.07, for a total transaction of $736,540.07. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 33,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,463,130.97. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO William J. Peters sold 10,282 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.23, for a total value of $454,772.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 94,103 shares in the company, valued at $4,162,175.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,383 shares of company stock valued at $1,524,123 in the last quarter. 27.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMPH. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 35.1% during the 1st quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 112,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,937,000 after purchasing an additional 29,182 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 61.9% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 64,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,835,000 after buying an additional 24,678 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $426,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 333,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,802,000 after acquiring an additional 1,209 shares during the period. Finally, Granite Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 397,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,901,000 after acquiring an additional 44,744 shares in the last quarter. 65.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a bio-pharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells generic and proprietary injectable, inhalation, and intranasal products in the United States, China, and France. It offers BAQSIMI, a nasal spray for the treatment of severe hypoglycemia; Primatene Mist, an over-the-counter epinephrine inhalation product for the temporary relief of mild symptoms of intermittent asthma; Enoxaparin, to prevent and treat deep vein thrombosis; REXTOVY and Naloxone for opioid overdose; Glucagon for injection emergency kit; and Cortrosyn, for use as a diagnostic agent in the screening of patients with adrenocortical insufficiency.